Notwithstanding the reverses of the Americans
on land and sea during the previous year, it is evident that
the British, about the beginning of 1778, were finding the subjugation
of their revolted colonies a serious undertaking, and were apprehending
a still more stubborn resistance on the part of the rebels encouraged
by their one notable success at Saratoga. The French alliance
with the United States, which soon followed, must have increased
this feeling and have emphasized the need of energetic measures.
A little later Lord George Germain, the British Secretary of
State for the Colonies, sent to General Clinton, who had succeeded
Howe, these secret instructions, dated March 8, 1778: "If
you shall find it impracticable to bring Mr. Washington to a
general & decisive Action early in the Campaign, you will
relinquish the Idea of carrying on offensive Operations within
Land & as soon as the Season will permit, embark such a Body
of Troops as can be spared from the Defence of the Posts you
may think necessary to maintain, on Board of Transports under
the Conduct of a proper Number of the King's Ships, with Orders
to attack the ports on the Coast from New York to Nova Scotia,"
and to destroy all ships and other property alongshore wherever
practicable, "so as to incapacitate the Rebels from raising
a Marine or continuing their Depredations upon the Trade of this
Kingdom." Two armaments were recommended, one from New York,
the other from Halifax, to attack Connecticut and New Hampshire
and then unite against Boston (Stevens, 396, 1062; Stopford-Sackville
MSS., 96; Sparks's Washington, v, 549.) The services of the army
seem to have been required on land, and the commerce and privateering
of New England were spared the annihilation which a rigorous
prosecution of this plan must have entailed. The project plainly
indicates a keen appreciation on the part of the British ministry
of the telling effect upon their commercial interests of American
privateering. About the middle of March, as soon as the British
government had been officially notified of the treaty of alliance,
Lord Stormont was recalled from Paris and war with France became
inevitable, although it was delayed a few months and then began
without formal declaration. Orders were sent to the British army
to evacuate Philadelphia and fall back on New York.

Meanwhile the Americans were striving to make
the most of their slender resources upon the sea. Another expedition
to New Providence was undertaken early in 1778, this time by
a single ship, the sloop Providence, which had visited the place
two years earlier as one of Commodore Hopkins's squadron. The
Providence was now commanded by Captain John P. Rathburne and
carried a crew of about fifty men. About the middle of January
she sailed from Georgetown, South Carolina, where she had put
in early in the winter. The next morning after getting to sea,
says Lieutenant Trevett, "at daylight saw a sail to the
eastward and then saw two more; they proved to be British, a
ship, brig and sloop. They gave chase and the ship gained on
us fast; by two P.M. we could see her tier of guns. Night coming
on and very dark, we took in all sail and put out our lights
and in a few hours, being lighter, we could see her and she passed
us and when she was out of sight we altered our course and in
the morning could not discover a single sail. We had hove over
so much of our wood, water, &c., in order to lighten ship,
that we concluded to make all sail for Abaco. We had a short
passage, came to anchor and went to work making a scaling ladder.
In two days after, we stood over to New Providence, having sent
down our topmast and topsail yard and housed our guns ; we also
kept all our men out of sight. About midnight we got abreast
of the harbor with a light air of wind off the land." A
force of twenty-eight men under Trevett's command was sent ashore.
"We took nothing with us to eat or drink, but filled our
pockets with ball cartridges. We landed about a mile from the
Fort and got our scaling ladder and all things ready." The
sentinels having been taken by surprise, the landing party soon
had possession of Fort Nassau. Several guns were found loaded,
with matches burning by them. Two British ships were in the harbor.
"We employed the remainder of the night in placing some
of the heavy pieces of cannon to point on the different streets
of the town and on the ships. When daylight appeared we set our
thirteen stripes flying at the fort." (R.I. Hist. Mag.,
July, 1886.) Upon requisition a breakfast was provided for the
party and an officer and two men were sent to take possession
of Fort Montague at the eastern end of the town, four miles distant.
This was accomplished and the guns were spiked. A midshipman
and four men were then sent in a boat, seized for the purpose,
to one of the English vessels, a sixteen-gun ship, and to this
small force the officer in command, seeing the American flag
on the fort and the guns pointing at him, surrendered with his
crew of forty-five. Five other vessels in the harbor, prizes
brought in by the British, were recaptured. The report had been
concocted for the occasion and disseminated among the inhabitants
that the Providence was merely one of an American fleet at Abaco,
and the number landed was also greatly exaggerated; this made
easier the exploits of the very small detachments sent out by
Trevett. An armed force of about two hundred of the inhabitants
collected with the purpose of attacking the fort, but they were
induced to desist by the threat of the Americans to burn the
town.

A British sloop of war appeared off the harbor,
but being warned away by signals and fired upon by the fort,
she stood out again to sea, remaining in the offing. On the morning
of January 30 the prizes were manned and the expedition sailed
away, taking off thirty Americans released from prison and valuable
military stores, including sixteen hundred pounds of powder.
In this affair no blood was shed and no private property on the
island was disturbed. Two of the prizes, being of little value,
were burned; the others were sent into port. The ships sailed
north and soon became separated. Having joined company again,
the Providence and the armed prize ship went into New Bedford
together early in March (R. I. Hist. Mag., July, October, 1886;
Clark, i, 74; Almon, vi, 99; Boston Gazette, March 9, 1778; Pap.
Cont. Congr., 44, 10, 17, 21, 23 (January 29, February 21, May
11, 1778); Mar. Com. Letter Book, 143 (April 22, 1778).)

The frigate Randolph, after a very short stay
in France, returned to America about the first of the year, apparently
sailing directly for South Carolina, whence she had so recently
come. A squadron was organized at Charleston, with Captain Biddle
in command, composed of the Randolph and four vessels of the
South Carolina navy, three of them being privateers taken temporarily
into the state service. These four vessels were the ship General
Moultrie, 18, and the brigs Notre Dame, 16, Polly, 16, and Fair
American, 14. One hundred and fifty South Carolina troops served
on the squadron as marines. According to the statements of British
prisoners in Charleston the Randolph carried twenty-six twelve-pounders,
six six-pounders, four coehorns in each top, and upwards of three
hundred men, one third of them tolerable seamen; the General
Moultrie carried twelve short and six long six-pounders, and
eighty men; the Notre Dame, sixteen sixes and a hundred and twenty
men; the Fair American, twenty guns and a hundred and twenty
men (Brit. Adm. Rec., A. D. 488, February 13,1778; Stevens, 811;
Paullin, 430.) This armament put to sea February 12, 1778, in
search of a number of British vessels that had been cruising
along the coast, but it was soon found that the enemy had departed.
The squadron then sailed for the West Indies and cruised several
days to the eastward of Barbadoes, taking one small schooner.
On the 7th of March, in the afternoon, the Randolph, in company
with her consorts and prize, sighted a large man-of-war to windward,
which turned out to be the British sixty-four-gun ship Yarmouth.
This vessel came down before the wind and when within hail, about
eight P.M., was first discovered to be a two-decker. The Randolph
in reply to her hail hoisted her colors and gave the Yarmouth
a broadside. Early in the engagement Captain Biddle was wounded
in the thigh, but continued in command, seated in a chair on
deck. The General Moultrie took part in the action, but being
to leeward and near the Randolph, fired into her by mistake,
and it was thought possible that Biddle was wounded by one of
her shot. The other vessels were not engaged. The Randoph's fire
was rapid and accurate. According to a letter of Captain Hall
of the Notre Dame, she handled the Yarmouth "so roughly
for 12 or 15 minutes that the British ship must shortly have
struck, having lost her bowsprit and topmasts and being otherwise
greatly shattered, while the Randolph had suffered very little;
but in this moment of glory, as the Randolph was wearing to get
on her quarter, she unfortunately blew up." (Independent
Chronicle, August 13, 1778.) Captain Vincent of the Yarmouth
reported March 17 to Admiral Young, at Barbadoes, that "on
the 7th instant at half past five P.M. discovered six sail in
the S.W. quarter, on a wind standing to the northward; two of
them ships, three brigs and a schooner. We were then 50 leagues
due east of this island. We immediately bore down upon them and
about nine got close to the weather quarter of the largest and
headmost ship. They had no colours hoisted and as ours were then
up, I hailed her to hoist hers or I would fire into her; on which
she hoisted American and immediately gave us her broadside, which
we returned, and in about a quarter of an hour she blew up. It
was fortunate for us that we were to windward of her; as it was,
our ship was in a manner covered with parts of her. A great piece
of a top timber, six feet long, fell on our poop; another large
piece of timber stuck in our fore top-gallant sail, then upon
the cap. An American ensign, rolled up, blown in upon the forecastle,
not so much as singed. Immediately on her blowing up, the other
four dispersed different ways. We chased a little while two that
stood to the southward and afterwards another that bore away
right before the wind, but they were soon out of sight, our sails
being torn all to pieces in a most surprising manner. We had
five men killed and twelve wounded. But what I am now going to
mention is something very remarkable. The 12th following, being
then in chase of a ship steering west, we discovered a piece
of wreck with four men on it waving; we hauled up to it, got
a boat out, and brought them on board. They proved to be four
men who had been in the ship which blew up and who had nothing
to subsist on from that time but by sucking the rain water that
fell on a piece of blanket which they luckily had picked up."
(London Chronicle, May 26,1778; Almon, vi, 143; Brit. Adm. Rec.,
Captains' Logs, No. 1091 (log of the Yarmouth) ; Port Folio,
October, 1809.) The rest of the squadron with the prize arrived
safely in port. The loss of another frigate was a severe blow
to the Continental navy and to the country, but the loss of Captain
Biddle was far more serious. While only in his twenty-eighth
year, he had given strong indications of ability as a seaman
and officer, and of character as a man. Having served as a midshipman
in the British navy in his youth, he had the military and naval
training which was lacking in nearly all the American seamen
of that period. With the exception of John Paul Jones, it is
probable that Biddle had no superior in the service. If four
men as good as these two and Wickes and Conyngham had been given
constant employment throughout the war in ships like the Randolph
or Hancock, perhaps the history of the Continental navy might
have been different.

The frigates Raleigh and Alfred, having made
the voyage to France together in the fall of 1777, set sail in
company December 29, homeward bound. When it had become evident
to the American Commissioners at Paris that the times were not
propitious for the cruising of Continental ships in European
waters, they had addressed a letter of advice, dated November
25, 1777, to Captain Thompson of the Raleigh, suggesting a circuitous
passage back to America. "As it is by no means safe to return
into the ports of France, you will calculate your stores so as
to have a sufficiency for your cruise, which we cannot indeed
be particular in the direction of. It has been suggested that
one or more of the India ships returning may be intercepted,
that part of the West India homeward-bound ships may be expected
about this time, as well as transports returning from New York
and elsewhere in America, and that by cruising in the proper
latitudes you may meet with them; that the British factories
and commerce on the African coast at this time lie without any
force sufficient to protect them, and that by running along that
coast you may greatly annoy and distress the enemy in that quarter
and afterwards go for the West Indies. As you and Captain Hinman
have already considered these several plans for a cruise, we
leave with you to determine which to prefer and the manner in
prosecuting either, or any other that may appear more likely
to answer the design of your commission. We are happy in observing
the harmony and confidence which subsists between you and Captain
Hinman and hope the same prevails between your officers and men,
which we are certain you will cultivate through the whole of
your expedition, in which we recommend to you to avoid giving
any offense to the flags of neutral powers and to show them proper
marks of respect and friendship . . . Whenever you judge it prudent
to dismiss prisoners subjects of his Britannic Majesty, we advise
you to take from them in writing an acknowledgment of their having
been your prisoners, their quality, place of residence, and that
they are dismissed by you in confidence that an equal number
of the subjects of the thirteen United States of the same rank,
that now are or may hereafter be prisoners to his said Britannic
Majesty, will be set at liberty. You are also to deliver a copy
of such writing to the prisoners, enjoining them to deliver the
same on their arrival in Britain to the lords of the British
admiralty, and by the first opportunity enclose a duplicate to
the committee or board of marine in Boston and another to us,
with an account of your proceedings." (Wharton, ii, 428;
Lee MSS., November 25, 1777; Independent Chronicle, April 9,1778.)
The commissioners' hopes in regard to the exchange of prisoners
were doomed to disappointment.

The Raleigh and Alfred sailed for the West
Indies by way of the coast of Africa, and captured a British
vessel off Senegal. By March 9, 1778, according to Captain Thompson's
report, they had reached latitude 16° 31' north, longitude
55° 40' west, and at Six A.M. two Sail to the west northwest
were seen from the Raleigh. At half-past seven she hove to for
the Alfred; the strange ships were then standing to the north,
close-hauled. Captain Thompson directed Captain Hinman to run
down and observe the sternmost ship. At ten o'clock, being within
five or six miles, it was plainly seen that the strangers were
armed. The Raleigh and Alfred then hauled on the wind on the
same tack with the other ships, which were to leeward. Thompson
thought that this manoeuvre would give him more time to discover
their force and rate of sailing. The strange ships then tacked,
,trying to work up and get our wakes." The Raleigh sailed
as well as they, while the Alfred fell off to leeward and astern.
"As the weathermost ship pass'd under the Alfred's lee,
standing to the Southward on the third tack, Capt. Hinman hoisted
his colours and fired several shot, which were returned under
English colours. They were then two miles apart and the other
ship four miles to leeward of her consort; the Alfred was about
three miles astern of us." The Raleigh was about to tack
and stand towards the Alfred, so as to attack the weathermost
ship in company with her, before the other could get up; but
just then, half-past twelve, the Alfred stood off before the
wind, which was light from the east northeast, and set all her
light sails in the effort to escape. The Raleigh had an equal
chance to attack one or to escape from both ships, but "the
Alfred was neither able to engage one nor to escape by sailing."
Thompson regretted that the Alfred attempted to escape, as it
was evident that the leeward ship, then bearing southwest, would
cut her off before she could pass her or the Raleigh give assistance.
The Raleigh did not go about, but hauled up her courses, thinking
the windward ship would stand for her; but "they both made
towards the Alfred. I then ordered the master to veer and make
sail towards the Alfred and run between her and the other ship,
to take off her fire and give the Alfred an opportunity to escape."
The Alfred at first seemed to gain on the British, "but
in a few minutes the two got up and began a furious fire, which
was return'd by the Alfred as fast as they could. Just as we
had got studdingsails hoisted we had the mortification to see
the Alfred haul down her colours. It was then one o'clock; the
firing lasted about ten minutes. We were then within three miles
of the ships." There was nothing then left for the Raleigh,
in the captain's opinion, but to escape from a superior force,
and she hauled to the north. The sea being smooth the British
soon finished taking possession of the Alfred and began to chase
the Raleigh, and gained on her. When night came she edged away
and set all her light sails. The British chased all night by
a bright moon. At daylight they were four or five miles away
and at seven o'clock seemed to be gaining. The Raleigh, by throwing
overboard all she could spare and starting her water, was lightened
about thirty-five tons and began to gain. At ten o'clock the
British gave up the chase, after nineteen hours. One of them
sailed faster than the other, but would not come up alone, often
heaving to and waiting for her consort (Continental Journal,
April 30, 1778.)

These British ships were the Ariadne, 20,
and the Ceres, 16. Captain Pringle of the Ariadne reported to
Admiral Young: "The two strangers at first shewed a disposition
to attack us, but in consequence of the King's ships having brought
the stern-most to close action about noon, the other made off.
The ship in action, after having given to and received from the
Ariadne and Ceres some broadsides, struck; and proved to be the
rebel ship Alfred, of 20 nine-pounders and 180 men. Her consort
was the Raleigh of 82 guns." (London Chronicle, May 26,1778;
Almon, vi, 144; Brit. Adm. Rec., Captains' Logs, No. 4141 (log
of the Ceres.)

The Raleigh arrived at Portsmouth early in
April. Captain Thompson's report no doubt put his conduct in
the most favorable light, but did not save him from severe censure.
By proper management it was believed that not only should the
Alfred have been saved from capture, but both the British vessels,
so inferior in force, should have been taken. Captain Hinman's
judgment might reasonably be questioned on two points: first,
his running off to leeward in a vain attempt to escape, thereby
removing himself from the support of the Raleigh; second, his
surrender after such a very brief resistance, while there was
a chance of the Raleigh's coming to the rescue. As to the subsequent
conduct of the Raleigh, it is not inspiring to think of her precipitate
flight from two small ships mounting about the same number of
guns that she did and probably lighter ones. Captain Thompson
was doubtless a good seaman, not lacking in physical courage,
and zealous in the cause; but without military sense and unequal
to the responsibilities of the situation.

Early in March the Frigate Warren, Captain
John B. Hopkins, blockaded in the Providence River, escaped through
the British fleet in Narragansett Bay. John Deshon, of the Eastern
Navy Board, wrote to the other members of the board, March 9:
"Respecting the Ship Warren I am happy She so well Succeeded
in geting out of this river. Every Circumstance Combined in her
Favour that She might Clear of the Enemy; the night was Exceeding
Dark, and there was but little wind untill the Crittecal time
of Passing the Greatest Danger, when the wind Shifted very Suddenly
into the N.W. and blowd Exceeding hard, so that the Enemy Could
not without the Greatest Difficulty Get under Sail and Persue.
I was at Warrick Neck and up the Most part of the Night when
the Warren Passed and am Very Sure it was Imposable for Captn
Hopkins to gain the Port of N. London, there being So much wind
and the weather so Severe Cold. There [were] on board the Warren
abt 170 men, manny of which had not a Second Shift of Cloaths,
therefore it will be Very Difficult as well as Teadius for Captn
Hopkins to beat this Courst at this Severe Season; the Orders
Given him by me you have with you, which Gives him not the least
Encouragement to Cruise. Nevertheless Should the Ship Keep out
this three weeks, I Shall not be in the least uneasy abt her;
well Knowin the men in no Condission to Beat a Winters Courst,
we have Succeeded beyound Expectation in Geting her out and I
have not the least Doubt but She will in due time Return with
honor to the Commander and his Compy." After a short cruise
the Warren put into Boston, March 23. Two days later William
Vernon wrote from Providence: "This moment several of the
Ship Warrens Men came to Town from Boston, who inform me they
Arrived There last Monday; and in passing the Enemys Ships in
this River . . . they sustained some damage, their Mizen Yard
shot away, Main yard wounded, several shot passed through their
Hull, one Man only sleightly wounded. The Wind blowing and continueing
fresh at N.W., the Crew badly Clothed and Weather extreem Cold,
were under the Necessity of standing to the Southward in warmer
Weather under easie sail far as the Latt. 24°, where they
fell in with the Ship Neptune, Capt. Smallwood, from Whitehaven
bound to Phila., Loaded with Salt and dry Goods." This ship
and another prize were taken and the Warren then sailed for Boston.
The Columbus also tried to escape from Narragansett Bay, but
was chased ashore on Point Judith and burned (Publ. R. I. Hist.
Soc., viii, 214 (March 9, 1778), 215, 229 (March 25, 1778), 230,
231, 233; Brit. Adm. Rec., A. D. 488, Nos. 55, 57, March 16,
April 23, 1778; Continental Journal, March 26, 1778; Independent
Chronicle, April 9, 16, 1778.)

The next vessel to attempt the perilous feat
of blockade-running was the frigate Providence, and she succeeded.
William Vernon wrote to John Adams: "The 30th of April we
sent down the Providence, Capt. Whipple, having on board about
170 men, who was ordered to the flrst Port in France he cou'd
make, to be under the direction of the Commissioners, where we
hope she is safe Arrived. No dispatches was sent by this ship,
as she was to pass a dangerous passage; however, in a brisk Wind
& dark Night she got out safe, receiveing a heavy fire from
the Lark, wch was the uppermost ship, who's Fires he returned
with Spirit & good effect, Kill'd a Number & Wounded
many Men, much disabled the Ship; the lower-most Ship by this
alarm was prepared to receive the Providence, who was obliged
to pass her very near, gave her their Fire, that was returned
with good success." (Adams MSS., May 20, 1778.) Having reached
the open sea, the Providence sailed for France. The frigate Trumbull,
unable to pass over the bar at the mouth of the Connecticut River,
remained in the river during the whole year. William Vernon wrote,
March 25, 1778, that "she must be intirely stript of her
Yards and Top Mast and all her Story, even to a Swept Hole, that
if possible to bring her to 9 or 10 feet Water." (Publ.
R. I. Hist. Soc., viii, 212, 214, 229, 230, 231, 232; Mar. Com.
Letter Book, 136, 147, 148 (April 6, May 8, 9, 1778)

The frigate Virginia, Captain James Nicholson,
which had been repeatedly ordered to sea, and had been waiting
nearly a year for a chance to run the blockade in Chesapeake
Bay, finally got away from Annapolis, Maryland, March 30, in
company with a brig which had on board a pilot in whom Nicholson
had confidence. At three o'clock the next morning, however, the
frigate ran on a shoal. She was forced over, but lost her rudder
and was thereupon anchored, leaking badly. At daylight two British
men-of-war were discovered, one of them only two gun-shots distant.
Nicholson and nine men, with the ship's papers, went ashore in
a boat and the Virginia was then surrendered to the enemy. Nicholson
afterwards went aboard one of the British vessels in order to
parole his officers. He was not court-martialed for the loss
of his ship, but Congress instituted an inquiry and acquitted
him of blame (Penn. Packet, April 15, 1778; Mar. Com. Letter
Book, 124, 129, 138, 150 (January 28, March 4, April 8, May 16,
1778) Barney, 65, 66.)

Captains John Barry and Thomas Read had in
1776 been appointed to command the frigates Effingham and Washington,
which since the occupation of Philadelphia by the British had
been bottled up in the Delaware River above the city. The officers
and men, therefore, unable to get to sea, had been employed on
shore and on the river in cooperation with the army and in the
defense of Delaware Bay in the fall of 1777. January 29, 1778,
Barry was ordered by the Marine Committee to command a boat expedition
down the river and bay, for the purpose of annoying the enemy,
capturing or destroying their transports if possible, and cutting
off their supplies and diverting them to the use of the Continental
army, then in desperate straits at Valley Forge. Owing to a quarrel
between Barry and the Navy Board of the Middle District, his
selection for this duty was opposed, but finally, after nearly
a month's delay, the matter was arranged. Towards the end of
February, Barry, having manned four of the frigates' boats, it
is said with only twenty-seven men, ran down the river and past
the city at night; below he was joined by five other boats, half-manned.
He then occupied himself with destroying everything along the
banks of the river that could be of use to the enemy and that
could not be conveyed to the American army. On March 7, while
at Port Penn on the Delaware shore of the bay, he captured two
ships, one of them armed with six four-pounders, and a schooner
"mounting Eight double fortified four Pounders & Twelve
four Pound" howitzers; the schooner was acting as convoy.
The ships were transports, each with a crew of fourteen men,
bringing forage and supplies from Rhode Island to the British
army in Philadelphia; the schooner was manned by a crew of thirty-three.
A day or two later a number of British vessels came up the bay
and Barry was obliged to burn the transports to prevent recapture.
He attempted to take the schooner into Christiana Creek, but
being hard-pressed was compelled to run her ashore and scuttle
her. The Marine Committee had hoped to take her into the naval
service, and had given orders for her equipment and employment
as a lookout vessel off the capes. Most of the cargoes of all
the vessels were saved and were purchased for the army, yielding
a good amount of prize money. Barry reported his exploit to General
Washington and received a congratulatory letter in reply. He
continued to harass the enemy on the river for another month
(Barry, ch. vii; Boston Gazette, April 6, 1778; Hist. Mag., July,
1859; Publ. R. I. Hist. Soc., viii, 223; Amer. Cath. Hist. Res.,
April, 1904; Pap. Cont. Congr., 137, app., 197 (December 19,
1777), 152, 2, 367 (March 9, 1778) ; Mar. Com. Letter Book, 125,
126 (January 29, 1778), 134, 135 (March 11, 26, 1778), 143 (April
24, 1778.)

In addition to the frigates Washington and
Effingham, a large number of smaller vessels, including several
galleys of the Pennsylvania navy, were blockaded in the Delaware
River above Philadelphia. It had long been feared that the British
would come up the river and capture or destroy these vessels,
and General Washington advised that they be stripped and sunk.
The two frigates had already been sunk and raised again and a
number of the smaller vessels were prepared for sinking at short
notice. On May 7 the expected British expedition, of seven hundred
men, came up the river, and apparently only a part of the galleys
were sunk in time to be saved. The British force, under Captain
Henry, came up in a brig, a schooner, four galleys, four gun-boats,
and eighteen flatboats carrying the soldiers of the party. Captain
Henry says in his report: "At noon we were abreast of White-hill,
where the gallies, armed vessels and gun-boats were placed to
cover the landing of the troops, which was performed without
opposition. At this place the Washington and Effingham rebel
frigates, the former pierced for thirty-two and the latter for
twenty-eight guns, were set on fire and consumed, together with
a brig and sloop. The troops then marched, took possession of
Borden-town and destroyed a battery of 3 six-pounders; whereupon
the gallies, armed vessels, &c. proceeded to that place,
where they burnt two new ships, one of which was pierced for
18 guns, one privateer sloop for 10 guns, with ten sail of brigs,
schooners and sloops." (Almon, vi, 149.) Farther up the
river many other vessels were burned as well as a large amount
of public property on shore. "The whole number of vessels
destroyed was forty-four sail." The expedition returned
to Philadelphia May 9. Fifty-eight guns of these sunken and destroyed
vessels were afterwards raised by the Americans (Ibid., 148-150;
Brit. Adm. Rec., A.D. 488, May 10, 1778; Hist. Mag., July, 1859;
Mag. Amer. Hist., March, 1878, Matthewman's Narrative; Barry,
ch. viii.)

Thus a series of misfortunes befell the Continental
navy during the early months of 1778, the effect of which must
have been depressing and naturally caused some loss of confidence
in the commanding officers. Colonel Timothy Pickering wrote to
his brother, April 26, from York, Pennsylvania, the temporary
seat of the Continental Congress: "Our naval affairs have
been conducted shockingly. You will see by the papers how foolishly
the Virginia was lost. The Randolph, Capt. Biddle, has been blown
up in an engagement with a large ship in the West Indies. This
misfortune is deeply to be regretted, for Biddle was an excellent
& amiable man and accomplished naval commander. From all
that I can learn the conduct of the other commanders of our frigates
has been generally shamefully bad." (Pickering MSS., v,
76.) One of Pickering's correspondents, in recommending Captain
Fisk of the Massachusetts navy for the command of a Continental
frigate, wrote: "I am confident he wd. not give her away
like a Coward as perhaps has been the case with some others,
nor lose her like a blockhead as M ... did his." (lbid,
xvii, 128 (March 30, 1778). Doubtless Manley is meant.) Another
says: "All the men that is got home from the Alfred sayes
if Capt. Thomson had come down they would have Taken ye Two English
Ships in one hours engagement." (lbid., xvii, 147 (May 4,1778.)
William Ellery wrote from York, April 25, to William Vernon:
"The Enemies ships do indeed swarm in the Seas of America
and Europe; but hitherto only one of our Frigates hath been captured
on the Ocean. Two have been burned in North River, two sunk in
Delaware, one captured there, and one in Chesapeak. The Alfred
we are just informed was taken on her passage home by two frigates
in sight of the Rawleigh. The particulars of this capture and
why she was not supported by the Rawleigh we are ignorant of.
I hope Capt. Thompson is not culpable. I entertain a high opinion
of him. The Columbus is a trifling Loss and I should not much
lament the Loss of the Alfred, if her brave Captain, Officers
and men were not in the hands of a cruel enemy. Our little fleet
is very much thinned. We must contrive some plan for catching
some of the Enemy's Frigates to supply our Losses; but we must
take care not to catch tartars. It is reported that Capt. Biddle
of the Randolph, in an engagement with a sixty-gun ship, was
blown up. We have been so unfortunate that I am apt to believe
almost any bad news; but this report I cannot believe."
(Publ. R. I. Hist. Soc., viii, 237.) William Story, clerk of
the Navy Board at Boston, wrote to Vernon, April 29: "The
doctr. of the Alfred has been at the Board and gives a particular
Accot. of Capt. Thompson's behaviour; he is Condemned by every
One and they are Crying out why don't your board turn him out
and hang him, &c, &c. I am Sorry the Service Suffers
by the Misconduct of the officers in the navy. I want the board
should be together to determine concerning Capt. Thompson."
(lbid., 240.) Captain Manley, who had been a prisoner in New
York since his arrival there after the capture of the Hancock
in July, 1777, was finally released and returned to Boston April
21. He was tried by a court-martial in June for the loss of his
ship, and acquitted. Captain McNeill of the Boston was tried
for not properly supporting the Hancock, and was dismissed from
the navy. Captain Thompson was court-martialed and was also dismissed
(lbid., 246, 247; Massachusetts Spy, April 30, 1778; Penn. Packet,
July 14,1778; Clark, i, 53; Mar. Com. Letter Book, 143, 147,
165 (April 28, May 8, July 24, 1778); Pap. Cont. Congr., 37,
163 (January 15, 1779) ; Jones MSS., September 4, November 15,
17, 1778; Wolcott MSS., June 16, 1778.)

The Continental brigantine Resistance was
purchased for the navy in 1777, and was fitted out at New London.
Captain Samuel Chew was given command of her in June of that
year, but she seems first to have got to sea early in 1778. She
mounted ten four-pounder guns, and while cruising in the West
Indies, fell in with a twenty-gun British letter of marque, March
4. After a hard-fought battle, in which Chew and one of his lieutenants
were killed, the vessels parted and the Resistance returned to
Boston. The new sloop of war General Gates got to sea during
the summer and captured two prizes; in the action with one of
them, Captain Skimmer of the Gates was killed (Mar. Com. Letter
Book, 92, 93, 94 (June 17,1777), 143 (April 28,1778); New London
Hist. Soc., IV, i, 9; Adams MSS., October 2, 1778, Vernon to
Adams; Jour. Cont. Congr., September 14, 1778.)

Captain Barry was appointed, May 30, 1778,
to command the frigate Raleigh, Captain Thompson having been
relieved. Barry was ordered, August 24 and again on the 28th,
to sail to the southward in the Raleigh in company with the brigantine
Resistance, now commanded by Captain William Burke, formerly
in command of the schooner Warren, of Washington's fleet at Boston
in 1776. The Raleigh and Resistance were at Boston. The Marine
Committee apparently had in mind two other frigates for service
in southern waters, with these vessels or independently. These
were the Warren, at Boston, and the Deane, which, after her completion
at Nantes, had come over to Portsmouth under the command of Captain
Samuel Nicholson, arriving in May. The instructions sent to Barry
provided for a cruise on the southern coast of the United States,
but they were not carried out; other orders to Barry, issued
after he had sailed, also related to a southern cruise. The Resistance
must have sailed before the orders of August 24 reached Boston.
She was sent out to look for the fleet of Admiral D'Estaing,
which was expected to arrive soon, but missed it; and then cruising
to the southward she ran into Admiral Howe's fleet and was captured
(Mar. Com. Letter Book, 131 (March 6, 1778), 147, 148, 153, 154
(May 8, 9, 30, 1778), 173, 174 (August 24, 28, 1778), 175, 179a
(September 14, 28, 1778); Independent Chronicle, May 7, 1778;
Almon, vi, 195; Amer. Cath. Hist. Res., April, 1904; Publ. R.I.
Hist. Soc., viii, 255; Adams MSS., October 2, 1778.)

The Raleigh sailed from Boston September 25
alone, except for two vessels under her convoy, which apparently
soon dropped astern. The wind was fresh from the northwest, but
seems to have died down before night; the Raleigh's first course
was east by south. At noon two sail were sighted at a distance
of fifteen miles to the southeast. The Raleigh hauled to the
north, and the strange vessels, which were the British fifty-gun
ship Experiment and the Unicorn of twenty-two guns, followed
in pursuit. The chase continued nearly sixty hours before a shot
was fired, off the coast of Maine. On the morning of September
27 the ships were not in sight, but reappeared about half-past
nine in the forenoon. The wind blew fresh from the west, and
the Raleigh, running off at a speed of eleven knots, drew away
from her pursuers, but in the afternoon, the wind having diminished
again, the Unicorn gained on her. The narrative of two of the
Raleigh's officers says: "At half past four P.M. tacked
and stood to the S. westward in order to discover the headmost
ship's force; at the same time saw several islands, but could
not tell the name of either. Our ship being cleared for action
and men at their quarters, about five P.M. coursed the headmost
ship [the Unicorn], to windward athwart her fore foot, on which
we hoisted our colours, hauled up the mizzen sail and took in
the stay sails; and immediately the enemy hoisted St. George's
ensign. She appearing to be pierced for twenty-eight guns, we
gave her a broadside, which she returned; the enemy then tacked
and came up under our lee quarter and the second broadside she
gave us, to our unspeakable grief, carried away our fore top-mast
and mizzen top-gallant-mast. He renewed the action with fresh
vigor and we, notwithstanding our misfortune, having in a great
measure lost command of our ship, were determined for victory.
He then shot ahead of us and bore away to leeward. By this time
we had our ship cleared of the wreck. The enemy plied his broadsides
briskly, which we returned as brisk; we perceiving that his intentions
were to thwart us, we bore away to prevent his raking us, and
if possible, to lay him aboard, which he doubtless perceived
and having the full command of his ship, prevented us by sheering
off and dropping astern, keeping his station on our weather quarter.
Night coming on we perceived the sternmost ship gaining on us
very fast, and being much disabled in our sails, masts and rigging
and having no possible view of escaping, Capt. Barry thought
it most prudent, with the advice of his officers, to wear ship
and stand for the shore, if possible to prevent the ship's falling
into the enemy's hands by running her on shore. The engagement
continuing very warm, about twelve midnight saw the land bearing
N.N.E. two points under our bow. The enemy, after an engagement
of seven hours, thought proper to sheer off and wait for his
consort, they showing and answering false fires to each other."
(Pennsylvania Post, October 19, 1778, quoted in Barry, 94, 95.)

The Experiment soon came up and joined in
the fire, and the British tried to cut off the Raleigh from the
shore. "Encouraged by our brave commander, we were determined
not to strike. After receiving three broadsides from the large
ship and the fire of the frigate on our lee quarter, our ship
struck the shore, which the large ship perceiving poured in two
broadsides, which was returned by us; she then hove in stays,
our guns being loaded gave us a good opportunity of raking her,
which we did with our whole broadside and after that she bore
away and raked us likewise, and both kept up a heavy fire on
each quarter, in order to make us strike to them, which we never
did. After continuing their fire some time they ceased and came
to anchor about a mile distant." (Barry, 96.)

According to the Experiment's log, at quarter
before six P.M. on the 27th, the "Unicorn came to close
Action with the Chace, the first Broadside carried away the Enemys
foretopmast and Main top-gallant Mast, at 7 a violent fireing
on board both Ships, 1/2 past 9 the fireing ceased 1/2 an Hour,
on which we fired several Signal Guns & was answered by the
Unicorn with Lights & false Fires bearing N 1/2 E 3 miles,
at 10 the Unicorn still in Action, at 11 spoke her & found
the chace close by her, soon after got alongside the Chace, she
gave us a Broadside & we riturned it, she then run upon the
Shore, we being close to the Rocks, tacked & Anchored about
1/2 a Gun Shott from her, as did the Unicorn in 20 fathoms Water;
at 5 A.M. the Enemy still on shore on a small barren Island called
Seal Island, the Rebel Colours still hoisted, at 7 weighed and
Anchored near her, fired several Guns & hoisted out all our
Boats, Manned & Armed, sent a Boat ahead with a Flag of Truce
to offer them Quarters, on discovering which she hawled down
her Colours, her first Lieutenant and One Hundred & thirty-three
Men were got ashore on the Island, but surrendered on a Summons
by Truce." (Brit. Adm. Rec., Captains' Logs, No. 331; also
No. 1017 (log of the Unicorn).)

The Raleigh had run on a rocky island in or
near Penobscot Bay, the identity of which seems not to have been
perfectly established. Barry had at once proceeded to land his
crew, intending to destroy his ship, and before morning he and
eighty-five of his men had escaped in boats to the mainland;
but through negligence or treachery the combustibles prepared
for firing the ship were not ignited. The British soon took possession
of the frigate and made prisoners of those of her crew who had
not yet left her. The Raleigh lost twenty-five killed and wounded.
The Unicorn had ten killed and many wounded, and was much injured
in her hull and rigging. Captain Barry with those of his crew
who escaped found their way back to Boston, where they arrived
in about two weeks. The British hauled the Raleigh off the rocks
and took her into their service. Barry's reputation did not suffer
from this mishap and he was held blameless by a court of inquiry.
In November he was appointed to command a fleet of galleys to
be employed in an expedition against East Florida, but this project
was never carried out (Barry, ch. ix; Dawson, ch. xlii; Mar.
Com. Letter Book, 184, 191 (October 25, November 20, 1778); Boston
Gazette, October 5,1778; Brit. Adm. Rec., A. D. 489, October
28,1778.)

The Massachusetts state brigs Tyrannicide,
Captain Hamden, and Hazard, Captain Sampson, sailed late in 1777
on a cruise in the West Indies. Early in their voyage they took
three prizes, but after arriving upon their cruising ground they
had little success. One of the few vessels they saw, wrote Sampson
from Martinique, March 5, 1778, was "a Frigate that we fell
in with a few days before we Arrived here, wch after we boar
away for her and discovered her to be a Six & thirty Gun
Frigate and we not thinking proper to engage her, Sheard from
her, wch shee Perseving, gave us Chase, but we soon Run her out
of sight ... The Hazard proves to be a very good Sea-boat &
is as Excellent Sailor and works kindly every way." (Massachusetts
Mag., July 1908.) They sailed home March 30, and arrived in May.
The brig Massachusetts, Captain Lambert, was ordered on a cruise
to the coasts of England, Spain, and Portugal. In June, Captain
Fisk was appointed to command the Hazard, which Sampson had given
up on account of ill health. Fisk declined the appointment, saying
that he would not "go to sea untill I can git a ship that
is able to make some defence against a British frigate."
(Mass. Archives, cliii, 73.) The Hazard was then given to Captain
Williams and he was ordered to cruise for West Indiamen. In August,
Captain Hallet, who succeeded Haraden in the Tyrannicide, was
ordered to cruise off Long Island, but owing to the proximity
of the English fleet after the French fleet had gone to Boston,
he "stood away to the Northwd." He fell in with and
cruised a few days with the Continental frigate Warren. Hallet
says that on September 25 he saw a sail standing towards him,
which "hove out an English Ensign. I gave her a Bow Chace
and English Colours; hail'd her, was answered from St George's
Bay bound to Jersey. I order her to heave out her boat &
come on board me, which she did. I sent a Prize Master who sent
the Capt. with his Papers on board me. I then hoisted an American
Jack & ordered her to strike to the United States, which
was complied with." (Mass. Archives, cliii, 110.) The prize
was a British letter of marque brig called the Juno. Early in
the year 1778 a moderate building programme had been planned
for the Massachusetts navy, but was only partially carried out
(Mass. Court Rec., January 17, April 21, June 23, 1778; Mass.
Archives, cli, 440, 442, 449, cliii, 73, 110,114; Massachusetts
Mag., April, July, October, 1908.)

In Boston Harbor March 23, 1778, were the
ships Defence and Oliver Cromwell of the Connecticut navy; the
former, which had previously been rigged as a brig, carried eighteen
six-pounders; the Cromwell, twenty nine-pounders. There were
also in port at the same time three privateer ships, the General
Mifflin and Minerva, of twenty guns each, and the Hancock, of
eighteen guns (Brit. Adm. Rec., A. D. 488, No. 57, April 23,
1778, intelligence collected for Admiral Howe.)

Late in March the Defence, Captain Samuel
Smedley, and. the Oliver Cromwell, Captain Timothy Parker, sailed
from Boston on a cruise. Near the Bahamas, April 15, they fell
in with and captured the British ships Admiral Keppel, 18, and
Cygnus, 16. A seaman on the Oliver Cromwell wrote in his journal:
"We gave chase under a moderate sail. At 9 o'clock came
up with them. They at first shew French colors to decoy us. When
we came in about half a mile, they ups with the English colors.
We had Continental colors flying. We engaged the ship Admiral
Kepple as follows: When we came in about twenty rods of her,
we gave her a bow gun. She soon returned us a stern chase and
then a broadside of grape and round shot. Captain orders not
to fire till we can see the white of their eyes. We get close
under their larboard quarter. They began another broadside and
then we began and held tuff and tuff for about two glasses, and
then she struck to us. At the same time the Defence engaged the
Cyrus, who as the Keppel struck, wore round under our stern.
We wore ship and gave her a stern chase, at which she immediately
struck. The loss on our side was one killed and six wounded,
one mortally, who soon died. Our ship was hulled nine times with
six-pound shott, three of which went through our berth, one of
which wounded the boatswain's yeoman. The loss on their side
was two killed and six wounded. Their larboard quarter was well
filled with shott. One nine-pounder went through her main-mast.
Employed in the afternoon taking out the men and manning the
prize." (New London Hist. Soc., II, i, 50, IV, i, 38, 41.
The quotation is from the logbook of Timothy Boardman.) In May
the Defence had small pox on board and put into Charleston, South
Carolina. A letter from that place, dated June 26, says: "On
receiving intelligence of several of the Enemy's privateers being
on our coast & annoying our trade with impunity, Capt. Smedley
(notwithstanding he was at the time performing quarantine for
the small pox), on an application from His Excellency our President,
fitted out the Defence immediately, being assisted by Commodore
Gillon [and other officers of the South Carolina navy], and last
friday sailed over our Bar in quest of them, having in Company
with him a French Armed Sloop called the Volant, commanded by
Capt. Daniel, who voluntarily offered his service on the occasion.
Before night they fell in with Three privateer Sloops, two of
which they took" (Trumbull MSS., viii, 149) and brought
into Charleston. The third sloop escaped. These vessels were
from St. Augustine, a place much frequented by British privateers.
The Defence, in company with the Volant, returned to Boston in
August, and in December was sent on another cruise with the Oliver
Cromwell (lbid., xx, 182, xxvi, 42, 46; Independent Chronicle,
August 6, 1778.)

In January, 1778, the American privateer brig
General Sullivan, carrying fourteen guns and a hundred and thirty-five
men, had an engagement in the West Indies with the sixteen-gun
Liverpool privateer Isabella, said to have had a crew of only
fifty. They fought two hours and a half yardarm and yardarm and
then separated. The British report says: "The engagement
was hot and I believe fatal to them, for we could see them falling
out of the tops and hear their shrieks and groans. It falling
dark and our rigging cut to pieces, we could not work our ship
and so lost our prize." The Sullivan seems to have suffered
most severely, having eleven killed and twenty-three wounded,
many of them dangerously. The Isabella lost two killed and ten
wounded, one mortally (Williams, 214, 215.)

On the morning of May 26, some distance off
the Delaware capes, the British ship Minerva, carrying sixteen
six-pounders, ten coehorns, and forty men, fell in with an American
brigantine mounting fourteen guns, sixes and fours, six coehorns,
and twenty-four swivels. The British account says: "At eight
o'clock he came up with us, it blowing then easy; he kept his
head toward us, so that we could not see his whole force, and
we suspected his attempting to board, on which we fired a cohorn
and hoisted our colours. He still keeping his station, we fired
on board of him and opened our stern ports; on seeing this he
run up abreast and gave us a broadside, hoisting the 13 stripes.
We returned his broadside and the action continued for one hour
and 57 minutes, having obliged him to sheer off at ten o'clock.
We were in no condition to follow him, 16 of our crew being killed
and wounded, our scuppers on both sides running with blood, I
may say, of as brave men as ever faced an enemy, our sails and
rigging being mostly cut and destroyed and all our masts very
severely wounded. Our greatest distance from the privateer during
the engagement did not exceed the length of our ship and we were
often yard arm and yard arm, scarce clearing one another's rigging.
Our topmast stay-sail, which continued set during the action,
had 180 shot through it, 9 great shot besides small ones through
our ensign, 1 through our pendant, 13 shot in our mizen-mast,
our main-mast shot through and our fore-mast greatly damaged.
I believe that the rebel was as much damaged in rigging as ourselves
and his loss of men must have been very considerable, be being
quite crowded with them; he carried six swivels in his tops and
great quantities of their shot consisted of old iron cut square,
old pots, old bolts, &c. About the middle of the engagement
an alarm was raised that our ship was beginning to sink; on this
a number of the men deserted their quarters, and among them the
person who was at the helm. The captain rallied them instantly,
took the helm himself, and while standing there a ball went through
his hat." The report that the ship was sinking "arose
from some of the enemy's shot having gone through and through,
which staved 14 puncheons of rum between decks." "Such
resolution was then shewn that had the ship been in a sinking
condition, I am convinced she would have gone to the bottom with
the colours standing, every one on board being determined to
sell his life as dear as he could. The rebel hailed us to strike,
but we could spare no time to answer him." The Minerva lost
seven killed and nine wounded. She was much crippled, and with
the help of a British frigate got into New York four days later
(London Chronicle, October 8, 1778, reprinted in Penn. Mag. Hist.
and Biogr., April 1889.)

Four Connecticut fishermen were captured by
the British at sea in September, 1778, and taken to Jamaica,
where they were impressed on board the sloop Active, bound to
New York. During the voyage the four Americans rose upon the
crew of the Active, fourteen in number, and confined them below.
Although the British were armed and made many desperate attempts
to regain possession of the sloop, they were finally subdued
after a two days' struggle. The Active was then headed for port,
but was seized by a Pennsylvania state cruiser and a privateer,
who claimed her as a prize and took her into Philadelphia. The
conflicting claims of the Connecticut fishermen and the last
captors, for prize money, led to long and important litigation,
involving the question of state sovereignty (Penn. Mag. Hist.
and Biogr., January, 1893; Jameson's Essays in Constitutional
History U. S., 17.)

The twenty-gun ship General Hancock, Captain
Hardy, a privateer of Boston, on the 19th of September fell in
with the British letter of marque Levant, of thirty-two guns,
and they fought three hours, beginning at one o'clock in the
afternoon. Both ships hoisted their colors and after firing a
few shot the Levant came alongside the General Hancock; then
the action began. At half-past two Captain Hardy received a severe
wound, which proved fatal. The ships exchanged broadsides at
short range until four o'clock, when the Levant blew up, part
of the wreck falling on board the American ship. The Hancock's
boats were immediately lowered and eighteen of the Levant's crew
of about a hundred were saved. The American loss included four
killed, besides the captain (Almon, vii, 168; Continental Journal,
September 24, 1778. The Levant is called a frigate in the account
of the affair. Further accounts of privateers and prizes in 1778
are given in N. E. Hist. and Gen. Reg., xxiii (1869), 47, 181,
289; London Chronicle, January 15, February 24, June 16, August
29, September 29, 1778; Royal Amer. Gazette (New York), March
19, 1778; Boston Post, October 7, December 5, 1778; Penn. Packet,
July 24, 1778; Boston Gazette, August 24, September 14, 21, October
12, 1778; Massachusetts Spy, June 25, November 5, 1778; Independent
Chronicle, December 24, 1778.)

The recall of the British ambassador from
France in March, 1778, was followed by preparations for war between
the two nations. The French collected a fleet at Brest under
the command of the Comte d'Orvilliers and another at Toulon under
the Comte d'Estaing. The Brest fleet fought an indecisive engagement
off Ushant in July with the British fleet of Admiral Keppel.
It was intended that the Toulon fleet should cross the Atlantic
and blockade Admiral Howe in Delaware Bay. The overwhelming preponderance
of sea power on the side of the British had hitherto given them
nearly complete control of the American coast; and they had been
free to move their troops and supplies from place to place with
little hindrance, except the occasional loss of a transport which
had become separated from its convoy. There was now a prospect
of the Americans being able, with the help of French fleets,
to dispute the naval supremacy of England, at least along their
own shores. Disappointments were in store for them, however,
and began with the dilatoriness which marked the preparation
of this Toulon fleet from the beginning, and all its subsequent
movements. D'Estaing sailed from Toulon April 13, taking with
him as passengers M. Gerard, the first minister plenipotentiary
of France to the United States, and Silas Deane, who had been
recalled by Congress and was returning home to explain his transactions
in France. The fleet passed Gibraltar more than a month later
and appeared off the Delaware capes July 7. It was said that
this exceptionally long voyage was due to time spent in drills
and to unnecessary delays, but D'Estaing himself says it was
caused by the extreme slowness of some of his vessels and the
necessity of keeping his fleet together. At any rate, he was
too late to accomplish the first great object of the expedition,
which was to close the Delaware before the British left it. Howe
had sailed June 22, passed out of the bay on the 28th, and arrived
off Sandy Hook two days later. The evacuation of Philadelphia
by the British had been ordered early in the spring and was carried
out June 18. Howe's fleet had on board all the stores and baggage
of the army, which marched overland through New Jersey. If the
British fleet had been caught in the Delaware, it is possible
that a victory as decisive as that of Yorktown three years later
might have been the result; for the British army, without their
fleet to transport them from the lower bay of New York to the
city, might have fared badly. D'Estaing, moreover, having captured
Howe's fleet, could have taken New York. Howe on July 12 had
six ships of sixty-four or more guns, three fifties, two forty-fours,
and four frigates. Another British fleet under Admiral Byron
was coming to reinforce him. D'Estaing had eight ships of seventy-four
or more guns, three sixty-fours, one fifty, and five frigates
(Almon, vi, 122; Schomberg, iv, 331, 338; Sands, 75, 311; Mahan,
350, 359, 360; United Service, October, 1905, "D'Estaing's
campaign"; Stopford- Sackville MSS., 110; Channing, iii,
288,298.)

D'Estaing soon sailed for New York with the
intention of entering the harbor and attacking Howe. He arrived
off Sandy Hook July 11, but did not go inside. He was told by
all the pilots he consulted that his heavier ships could not
pass over the bar. He offered a hundred and fifty thousand francs
to any pilot who would take him inside, but no one volunteered.
Thus a second opportunity to annihilate the British fleet was
lost. The French policy perhaps did not favor an early and decisive
triumph of the American cause, and possibly D'Estaing was less
strenuous in his efforts than he would have been if he had been
fighting for his own country alone. This would have been reasonable
from the French point of view and consistent with the admiral's
instructions, which called for the performance of some "action
beneficial to the Americans, glorious for the arms of the king,
fit to manifest immediately the protection that His Majesty accorded
to his allies." (United Service, October, 1905.)

D'Estaing remained off Sandy Hook eleven days,
and is said to have captured during that time twenty British
vessels bound into New York. July 22 he sailed for Newport, having
been requested by Washington to cooperate with General Sullivan
in an attack on that town. On the 29th the French fleet appeared
off Newport and a few days later occupied the eastern and western
channels of Narragansett Bay. Four British frigates and two sloops
of war were destroyed, either by the French or by the English
themselves, to prevent capture. Unfortunately Sullivan did not
get ready for the movement against Newport until August 8. D'Estaing
then ran into the central channel of the bay, under fire from
the batteries at the entrance, and anchored the main body of
his fleet north of the harbor. The attack was planned for the
10th. On the 9th the British fleet appeared off Point Judith,
where it anchored. Howe had sailed from New York August 1, having
been reinforced by several ships of Admiral Byron's fleet, which
had been scattered by a storm on its passage from England. Howe
now had with him one seventy-four, seven sixty-fours, five fifties,
two forty-fours, six frigates, and several small vessels. Although
his force was thus considerably increased, he was still somewhat
weaker than his adversary, and seems to have had no intention
of attacking. Under the circumstances, however, D'Estaing preferred
the open sea, and early the next morning, August 10, the wind
having shifted to the north during the night, he cut his cables
and ran out of the bay. Upon observing this movement of the French,
Howe got under way, and the two fleets spent the next twenty-four
hours manoeuvring for the weather-gauge, or, according to D'Estaing's
account, the British fleet fled before the wind, attempting to
get back to New York, with the French in pursuit. This continued
until late on the afternoon of the 11th, and the leading French
ships were just overhauling the British rear, when the wind,
which had been increasing, became a violent gale, which soon
scattered the vessels of both fleets, each ship being engaged
in a struggle with the elements. "At half-past three in
the morning" of the 12th, says D'Estaing in his report,
"the bowsprit broke, then the foremast, then the main-top,
then the mizzenmast; finally the mainmast fell. Our rudder broke
next. This last misfortune was the greatest of all. We were now
only a floating mass with nothing to steady us and nothing to
guide us." (United Service, October, 1905.) This was the
plight of the admiral's flag-ship, the Languedoc, of ninety guns.
The storm continued unabated until the afternoon of the 13th,
when it subsided. Before night the Languedoc and another dismasted
French ship were attacked by two British ships, but darkness
put an end to the encounter. The next day most of the French
fleet came together and anchored for temporary repairs. The British
made their way back to New York. D'Estaing, having completed
necessary repairs, bore away for Rhode Island August 17, and
appeared again before Newport on the 20th. It was then decided
that the fleet could be thoroughly refitted at no place nearer
than Boston, and D'Estaing therefore sailed again on the 22d,
to the great disappointment of Sullivan, who was forced to abandon
his campaign against Newport. The French arrived in the lower
harbor of Boston August 28, and four days later Howe's fleet,
having refitted at New York, appeared in sight. On his way to
Boston, Howe had captured the Continental brig Resistance, which
had been sent out to look for the French fleet. Finding D'Estaing's
position too strong to be attacked, Howe soon departed, returning
to New York. D'Estaing remained at Boston over two months, finally
sailing for the West Indies November 4. He arrived at Martinique
December 9 (Mahan, 359-365; Clowes, iii, 397-411; United Service,
October, 1905; Almon, vii, 27-50,106-112; Doniol, iii, ch. vii;
Chevalier's Marine Francaise, ch. iii; Clark, i, 83, 84; Schomberg,
iv, 338, 339 ; Publ. R.I. Hist. Soc., viii, 255. For Dr. Samuel
Cooper's account of D'Estaing, see Hale, i, 183.)

Shortly after the final departure of D'Estaing
from Rhode Island, the British frigate Carysfort, Captain Fanshawe,
with a considerable fleet and a detachment of the army under
General Grey, made a raid, September 4, upon American shipping
in Buzzard's Bay and at Martha's Vineyard. The expedition was
sent by Admiral Gambier, who about this time succeeded Howe in
command of the North American station. At New Bedford, Fair Haven,
and Holmes's Hole about twenty vessels of some size, besides
seventy smaller ones and many boats, were destroyed; also twenty-six
storehouses and other public property. Major Silas Talbot of
the Continental army reported to General Sullivan that the British
fleet comprised forty-five sail, great and small, bringing four
thousand troops, to oppose whom the Americans mustered one thousand
militia. Talbot said that besides destroying nearly all the shipping
at New Bedford, they burned twenty shops and twenty-two houses
in the town. A few weeks later Gambier sent out another marauding
expedition, to Egg Harbor, New Jersey (Almon, vii, 36-38, 47-49,154-156;
Stevens, 1157; Sparks MSS., September 7, 1778, Talbot to Sullivan.)
These transactions were in line with the policy advocated earlier
in the year by Germain, whose under-secretary, William Knox,
wrote October 31: "What a proof is the Bedford enterprize
of the propriety of the orders so repeatedly given for attacking
the rebel sea ports, and what a reflection is it upon Lord Howe's
character that Gambier, in his short absence, has done more to
subdue the Rebellion than his lordship during the whole of his
command. It was always clear in speculation that the Militia
would never stay with Washington or quit their homes, if the
coast was kept in alarm, but the experiment having now been made,
the effect is reduced to a certainty. Surely somebody will ask
Lord Howe why he has never attempted any thing of the kind."
"I much fear [D'Estaing] will go to the West Indies, . .
. but perhaps Byron's enterprizing turn may discover the practicability
of burning his fleet and the town of Boston together, and then
everything will succeed with
us." (Hist. Manuscripts Com., Various Collections, vi, 153.
For other contemporary opinions of Howe, see Mass. Hist. Soc.
Proc., November, 1910.)

General Sullivan evacuated Rhode Island by
passing over to the mainland at Tiverton August 29. The British
fortified the eastern channel of Narragansett Bay, or Sakonnet
River, by batteries on the shore and by a two-hundred-ton schooner
named the Pigot, armed with eight twelve-pounders, manned by
a crew of forty-flve men and moored near the mouth of the river.
Major Talbot fitted out at Providence a small sloop called the
Hawke with two three-pounders and manned her with a detachment
from the army afterwards reinforced, it is said, to the number
of sixty in all. Talbot proceeded to Mount Hope Bay where he
waited for a favorable wind. On the night of October 28 he dropped
down the river and passed the batteries unseen, drifting downstream
under bare poles. "At half-past one," he says in his
report, "got sight of the schooner Pigot, but a small distance
from her was hailed by her and fired upon by her marines from
the quarter-deck, but reserved our fire till we had run our jibb
boom through her fore shrouds, then threw in such a volley of
musketry loaded with bullets and buckshot and some cannon, that
the seamen that were on deck immediately ran below begging for
quarters and them that were below never made their appearance
upon deck, the consequence of which was, my men run out upon
our jibb boom and boarded her without the loss of a man. We came
to sail. with her and run into this harbor [Stonington], where
my men are all landed and on their march to Providence."
(Almon, vii, 337.) For this exploit Major Talbot was promoted
to the rank of lieutenant-colonel in the Continental army and
was afterwards made a captain in the navy (Continental Journal,
November 19, 1778; Boston Post, November 28, 1778; Tuckerman's
Life of Talbot, ch. iii.)

In Boston Harbor about the middle of December
were the Continental frigates Warren, Providence, Boston, Deane,
and Queen of France. All except the first of these vessels had
come from France during the year. There was likewise in port
the new frigate Alliance, built at Salisbury on the Merrimac
River and fitting out for her first voyage. One or two state
cruisers and about ten large privateers were also lying in Boston
Harbor at this time. Of the frigates the Deane was fully manned
and ready for sea: the others would have been nearly so, if privateering
had not made it practically impossible, without great delay,
to get men for their crews (Publ. R. I. Hist. Soc., viii, 255,
256; Brit. Adm. Rec., A.D. 489, No. 19, December 20, 1778, intelligence
collected for Admiral Gambier.) These six frigates represented
almost the entire strength of the Continental navy in commission
in American waters at the end of 1778.